replumbing an old house

I have bought an old house with a lot of land at a good price, so it goes unsaid that I also have a lot of work to do on it. The idiots that owned the home before me screwed up a lot of things trying to fix them. I have old steel pipe for my water lines right now, some of them look like tree bark where the pipes have rusted, and flaked. No leaks from them yet, but there is a leak somewhere. In the bathroom that they added, it looks like they had a box of elbows and t's and were just trying to use up all of their supplies or perhaps just trying to fill in all of the area under the bathroom. I have lines running in every direction, and back again then over up and back again. It is crazy. I have never seen anything like this. The house needs leveled, but I don't dare set a jack under it until the old pipes are replaced. I have decided to redo the whole house. I believe the leak is underground off of the main going over to the faucet, but instead of digging up all of that dirt, I am going to just dig a trench from the box, up to the house, set an outside faucet by the steps instead of over at the side of the house. I guess what I reallly want to know, is this, is 1" pipe coming into the house, reduced to 3/4 branching to the bathrooms, and reduced to 1/2 coming up through the floor the norm? Is that where I will get my water pressure? and should I bring the main up out of the ground as soon as I get under my pier and beam house? I have two bathrooms, two outside faucets, a washer, and the kitchen, 42 feet from the box to the house, another 25 feet to our bathroom, then elbow over another 30 feet to get to the guest bathroom where the water heater is. Will 1" pvc suffice for this situation? thanks

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replumbing an old house

Quote:

Originally Posted by simonfrog

I have old steel pipe for my water lines right now, some of them look like tree bark where the pipes have rusted, and flaked. I have lines running in every direction, and back again then over up and back again. It is crazy. I have never seen anything like this. I guess what I reallly want to know, is this, is 1" pipe coming into the house, reduced to 3/4 branching to the bathrooms, and reduced to 1/2 coming up through the floor the norm? Is that where I will get my water pressure? Will 1" pvc suffice for this situation? thanks

How's your water pressure now? Are you on a well or is it a public supply?
The house I grew up in was built in the 40's by a couple of farmers and it has plumbing just like you describe. In fact, the water pipes actually "loop" through the house - that is to say they do not dead end anywhere. When I was a kid the house had a well / pump that barely kept up - now it has 'city' water with plenty of pressure. I'm guessing the water piping schematic had something to do with optimizing pressure at the fixture.
I've seen sprinkled (fire suppression) townhouses serviced by 1" tubing. I can't imagine it's not enough for your needs.

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replumbing an old house

Your problem may be internal. I spent some time as an engineer for a large municipal utilities system and one of the things that really sticks in my mind was a street on a 3/4" water main that was visible along the driveways and as it was being replaced we discovered that the scale buildup had reduced the interior diameter to that of about a pencil! Imagine servicing a dozen homes through a 3/8" waterline! That was what was going on.
Something to look into.

replumbing an old house

1" pipe should be sufficient A couple of things to keep in mind...reducing the size of a pipe increases the speed of the flow, it does not increase the pressure. The way to increase pressure is to restrict the flow. You will experience pressure drop when running long runs of whatever size pipe you use.